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Ukraine is scheduled to hold local elections throughout the country (except the Russian-occupied territories) on October 25—the first such elections since the advent of a Western-oriented Ukrainian government.

Under Ukrainian laws, passed in March (and corresponding with international law), elections of Ukraine may not be held in territories of Ukraine not controlled by the government of Ukraine but that are, instead, under the control of foreign military forces and the nominees of a foreign power (Rada.ua, March 17, 18).

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Dagestan has not seen potentially destabilizing arrests of top officials since the arrest of the mayor of Makhachkala on June 1, 2013 (RIA Novosti, June 1, 2013). That is why the news about a police search of the home of one of the most influential leaders of the new Avar political elite, Sagid Murtazaliev, made top headlines in the republic.

Despite the best efforts of both Moscow and Tokyo to sustain the momentum toward a full normalization of their relations and a genuine rapprochement (see EDM, February 24, 2014; June 10, 2014), once again Russia has tried to intimidate Japan. In June 2015, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a program of new military and civilian construction on the Kurile Islands, several of which are...

At this point, Moscow seems content to watch Western diplomats urging Kyiv to legitimize the Donetsk-Luhansk authorities through local elections, and (as a consequence of this) enshrining an official status for that territory in Ukraine’s constitution (see EDM, July 20, 24).

According to Kyiv officials, cited by Zerkalo Nedeli (June 26), US Assistant...

Recent news about Belarus has recently concentrated on three somewhat connected issues: the upcoming presidential elections, economic decline, and the activities of Moscow and the collective West vis-à-vis Minsk.

On July 20, Lidia Ermoshina, chairperson of Belarus’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC), participated in a Vienna-based seminar of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in...

Russia continues to surprise observers by its actions to counter the threat of the Islamic State (IS). Notably, Russian authorities recently updated the list of Islamic organizations that could harm the Russian Federation. The list is interesting because it includes organizations that disappeared more than ten years ago. For example, it is unclear why the High Military Council of the Joint Forces...

Moscow vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution that would have set up an international tribunal to investigate and prosecute those involved in the downing passenger airliner of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The Boeing 777 jet was shot down on July 17, 2014, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, over territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists. All 298 passengers...

In early July, Kazakh media reported on a new political initiative announced by a group of young activists headed by Olesya Khalabuzar (Informburo.kz, July 8). The group proposed the creation of a political party under the name “Spravedlivost” (“Justice”). This “new left” project seeks to build a multi-ethnic organization that would advocate building a society of equal opportunities. The project...

In early July, the parliament of Georgia passed a law on establishing the State Security Service (Civil Georgia, July 4). The new body will decouple the intelligence and security agencies from Georgia’s Ministry of Interior. Among its roles, it is tasked with investigating anti-Georgian espionage and sabotage activities. Prior to 2004, the Ministry of State Security existed specifically to deal...